States often choose official symbols, such as birds, trees, and flowers, to celebrate their unique natural heritage and history. These designations honor species that hold cultural, ecological, or economic importance within the state’s borders. Selecting a representative connects the state’s identity to the biological world and the local ecosystem.
Identifying the State Insect
The official state insect of New Jersey is the honeybee, specifically the European honeybee (Apis mellifera). The state’s legislature formally codified this choice, recognizing the species as a symbol of the state.
The Legislative Path to Designation
The push to designate the honeybee as an official state symbol began with a class of elementary school students in Hamilton Township. In 1973, second-grade students from Sunnybrae School took an active role in the legislative process. They successfully lobbied state lawmakers, presenting a case for the honeybee’s selection.
This educational campaign highlighted the insect’s connection to the state’s agricultural industry, often called the “Garden State.” The honeybee’s designation was officially established when Governor Brendan T. Byrne signed the bill into law on June 20, 1974. Its selection was a recognition of its value in producing honey and beeswax, and its function as a pollinator of fruits and vegetables.
Unique Characteristics and Habitat
The honeybee is a highly social insect that lives in large, complex colonies within a hive. These colonies include a single queen, a small population of male drones, and tens of thousands of sterile female worker bees. The worker bees perform different tasks based on age, initially working inside the hive before transitioning to forage for pollen and nectar.
Worker bees have a short lifespan of only about six weeks during the active summer months, but those born in the fall can survive through the winter to the following spring. This species is not native to North America; European settlers introduced it to the continent in the 17th century. Despite its non-native origin, the honeybee plays a major role in New Jersey’s agriculture, pollinating many commercial crops.
The insects communicate the location of food sources to their hivemates through a precise maneuver known as the “waggle dance”. This specialized dance conveys the distance and direction of nectar and pollen relative to the sun and the hive entrance. In New Jersey, honeybees are instrumental in pollinating crops like blueberries and cranberries, which are significant parts of the state’s economy. The species is found across a wide range of New Jersey habitats, from rural farmlands to suburban gardens, wherever flowering plants provide sufficient forage.